Show Us the Money!

First published on Enigma Facebook 29 Feb 2012—————-
From Straits Times Published on Feb 29, 2012 … Government course-corrected but can do more ( see below) :

Excerpt: ‘We should not see social outlays only as spending to be minimised over the short term, but also as investments to be optimised for our long-term benefit,’ he said. The Government should seek such opportunities, just as it seeks investments that have economic returns, he added.

This prompted PAP MP Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) to rise to ask how the WP planned to fund its proposals to ‘do more’.

‘Is it planning to raise taxes or eat into reserves to pay for all these additional programmes?’ he asked. Mr Chen replied that investments would yield economic and social returns.

When Mr Nair pressed further, the WP MP said that his party was not proposing that the Government run a deficit.

‘But we can look at the numbers, both on the revenue side and how much we hope to make in terms of investments, to come to a solution,’ he said.

Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Nee Soon GRC) rejected the WP argument that the Government had ‘course-corrected’, saying that previous Budgets had also been inclusive.